


I Was There

by Niccolò Machiavelli (Piccolo_Machiavelli)



Category: 15th Century CE RPF, 16th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF, Machiavelli - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 07:45:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7305817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piccolo_Machiavelli/pseuds/Niccol%C3%B2%20Machiavelli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niccolò Machiavelli receives a visitor who watches him from the moment he falls from grace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Was There

**Author's Note:**

> Freshman biology was boring as shit.

She was there to watch him rise.

She saw when he surpassed his siblings out of a poor family, and laughed when they failed to keep up. He took not an interest in medicine or pedagogical occupations, but instead in one of government and power. He was a man of many secrets and brilliant ideas, and he was perfectly suited for the position of a diplomat. The letters he wrote were ones of pride and spoke of negotiations. He wanted to be the best. He wanted to be the one in power.   
She was there when he was appointed to a position higher, as Chancellor. She saw him reveling in his fame and admiring his fortune, but being very conservative with his funds. He knew all too well not to spend his money on material objects of splendor. She observed him as a family man, marrying a woman who bore him six beautiful children. He was respected and hailed. She watched as he would toy with his associates, and smiled when they fell for his ruses. He was the Renaissance man; a philosopher, politician, diplomat, playwright, songwriter, and Chancellor, among several other odd things.  
But he could not linger for long in fortune’s good graces.

I saw it all come tumbling down. I was there when the tumults came to a peak. He was suspected to be guilty of treason, and he was captured by the royal family. I could not be there when they tortured him, attempting furiously to wring a confession out of him, but to no avail. His innocence could not buy his way out of exile. I saw him seething, furious at his situation as he was kept out of the government. He unraveled slowly. I observed him as he drank bitterly and participated in fights. He was not the same man.  
He seemed to transform from a once-gallant hero of the people to an aging man struggling to maintain his sanity. He would pace and write intensely in the night of ages long ago. All he wanted was to win back his old charm, to earn the respect once again of the Prince. He tried to save his dignity, but it could not end in success. At night, he would dream of classic philosophers discussing topics with him as a guest.   
He can now count himself among them.

I was there to watch him rise.

I was there to watch him fall.


End file.
